ONEONTA, NY - Visiting RIT went on a 23-6 run in a 12-minute span in the second half en route to a 67-53 win over Hartwick's men's basketball team on Friday night at Lambros Arena. The Hawks' season comes to a close with a 10-14 overall record and a 7-9 mark in the Empire 8 standings, good enough for 6th place. The Tigers improve to 9-6 in the Empire 8 and 13-11 overall.
The first half was tight throughout with five lead changes and two ties. The Tigers earned their biggest lead of the stanza, 22-15, with five minutes remaining thanks to a 9-3 run, but the Hawks closed the gap to three points at the break, 29-26.
Junior Martin McCann (Hopewell Junction, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) registered eight points, including a pair of three-pointers in the half for the Hawks with Shane Tanzosh (Warwick, NY/Warwick) and Kyle Phillips (Ashland, MA/Ashland) each added six.
The Hawks started with six of eight points to begin the second half with a pair of Phillips' lay-ins and a James Mantas (Niskayuna, NY/CBA) tip-in, giving Hartwick a 32-31 lead with two and a half minutes elapsed. It marked the last lead of the contest for the Hawks, however, as the Tigers scored the next nine points and 23 of the next 29 to go up by 18 points, 54-36, with just over five minutes to play. The Hawks hit just 1-of-11 and turned the ball over seven times in the span.
Six straight Hartwick points from Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral Prep) cut the lead to 12 with 4:14 left but it would be as close as the Hawks would get. The Tigers would use an 11-4 run over the next minute and 30 seconds to put the game away.
Blazek finished with 15 points to lead 'Wick. Phillips, in his final game in a Hartwick uniform, scored 12 points and added eight rebounds. Mantas, Mike Tracy (Morris, NY/Morris), and Dan DeVantier (Roscoe, NY/Roscoe) also made their final career appearances for the Hawks.
Brandan Harder dropped in 16 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to pace RIT. Anthony Terry added 13 points. The Tigers shot 41.8% (23-of-55) for the game. They also held a 36-34 edge in rebounds over the Hawks. Hartwick shot 39.6% (19-of-48).
The seven Empire 8 victories for the Hawks is their highest win total in conference play since the 2000-01 season. Hartwick's sixth place finish in the standings is also its highest since the '00-'01 squad placed fourth in the league.
